Remus and Sansa Read the Philosopher’s Stone
by Natulcien Seregon
Summary: Sansa finds a book in the libary, she takes it to Remus and persudes him to read it with her. In the room of requirement they settle down for a story. Set when their in year 6. I got asked to do it by a friend!
1. Chapter 1

_"Hey Remus" Sansa's voice called form over the library._

_"Sansa?"_

_"I found something look."_

_"What?" Remus looked up from the desk at the young woman moving towards him from behind a shelving unit. A quick glance around told him that they were the only ones in the library._

_"A book." Sansa answered mildly._

_"Well that was clever, have you only just realised where we are?"_

_"Oh ha-ha." Sansa said sarcastically. "Very funny Remus, very funny."_

_Remus laughed._

_"So what's special about this book then Sans?"_

_"Well take a look." She shoved the book under his nose._

_"Where did you find this?" Remus asked slowly, his face pale._

_"Over there." She pointed to a section behind her. "What should we do with it?"_

_"Nothing, we let it be."_

_"Oh Remus, where's you're sense of adventure?" Sansa said, with a smile. Remus stretched._

_"I've been with the guy's too long." He said, with a twisted smile._

_Sansa giggled. "Come on Remus! We can read it together."_

_He looked up at her in surprise. "Not with Lily?"_

_She shook her head violently. "Lily wouldn't approve. It's not Hogwarts approved." She said imitating Lily's voice. Remus shook a stray bit of hair out of his eyes._

_"Ok. If you don't want Lily to know, where should we read it?"_

_Sansa chewed on her bottom lip. Her forehead creased as she thought._

_If there was a light bulb near it would have it up as Remus sat up._

_"I have the perfect place." He said Sansa looked at him confused._

_"Where?"_

_"Come, Come." He grabbed Sansa's hand and dragged here from the library._

_They raced down corridors, almost bowling into Remus's friends James Potter and Sirius Black._

_"Remus? Where?" But the pair had already past them._

_The two boys exchanged a look and shrugged as the watched their friends disappear around the corner._

_Remus skidded to a halt next to a plain piece of wall._

_"Remus, what…?"_

_He paced up and down several times and a door appeared._

_"How…?" He grabbed Sansa's hand and pulled her though gently. The door disappeared behind her._

_"Wow." Sansa was looking around in awe, the room had several squishy armchairs and beanbags scattered around. The walls were a light purple and the chairs deeper purple. Light filtered in magically. Remus took the nearest chair._

_"Lets have a look at this book then."_

_He took the ruby covered book from Sansa's hands. He turned it over._

_"Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone." He said wonderingly. Sansa sat on a beanbag._

_"What do you think its about?"_

_"Well, he looks like James, and has James's surnames so I guess something to do with him." Remus said, looking at Sansa from over the book._

_"You start or me?" Sansa said._

_Remus opened the book._

_"Sansa…this copyright is in 1997."_

_"That's years away!"_

_"So what is it doing here?"_

_"Just read it Remus."_

_"Chapter One, The Boy Who Lived."_

_The two shared a puzzled look._

"**Mr. and Mrs. Dursley, of number four Privet Drive, were proud to say that they were perfectly normal, thank you very much."**

_"Sound's like Lily's sister." Sansa said glumly._

_Remus laughed. "The one you always fight with?"_

_Sansa nodded. "Please carry on Remus."_

"**They were the last people you'd expect to be involved in anything strange or mysterious, because they just didn't hold with such nonsense. ****Mr. Dursley was the director of a firm called Grunnings which made drills."**

_"Sorry for being really dumb but…" Sansa started._

_"Drills are things muggles use to dig holes quickly." Remus cut across. Sansa's mouth formed the perfect 'o' shape._

"**He was a big, beefy man with hardly any neck, although he did have a very large moustache. Mrs. Dursley was thin and blonde and had nearly twice the usual amount of neck, which came in very useful as she spent much of her time craning over garden fences, spying on the neighbours. The Dursley's had a small son called Dudley ****and in their opinion there was no finer boy anywhere."**

_Remus stared at the book._

_"What?" Sansa asked._

_"Poor kid. And I thought that Sirius's name was bad enough."_

"**The Dursley's had everything they wanted, but they also had a secret, and their greatest fear was that somebody would discover it. They didn't think they could bear it if anyone found out about the Potters."**

_"I would be if I was related to James." Remus said._

_Sansa laughed. "Yeah. Never admit to that!"_

"**Mrs. Potter was Mrs. Dursley's sister."**

_"James doesn't have a sister."_

_"Huh?"_

_"James doesn't have a sister." Remus repeated._

_"Maybe it's his wife's sister." Sansa said smiling._

_"Oh. Yeah, that would work." Remus bent his head back into the book and carried on._

"…**but they hadn't met for several years: in fact, Mrs. Dursley pretended she didn't have a sister because her sister and her good-for-nothing husband were as unDursleyish ****as it was possible to be. The Dursley's shuddered to think what the neighbours would say if the Potters arrived in the street. The Dursley's knew that the Potters had a small son, too, but they had never even seen him. This boy was another good reason for keeping the Potters away; they didn't want Dudley mixing with a child like that."**

_"Like what?" Sansa said._

_"Like us dear…magical!"_

_"Why?"_

_"Their muggles."_

"**When Mr. and Mrs. Dursley woke up on the dull, grey Tuesday our story starts, there was nothing about the cloudy sky outside to suggest that strange and mysterious things would soon be happening all over the country. Mr. Dursley hummed as he picked out his most boring tie for work and Mrs. Dursley gossiped away happily as she wrestled a screaming Dudley into his high chair."**

_"What a nasty child." Sansa said a look of disgust on her face._

_Remus nodded in agreement thoughtfully._

"**None of them noticed a large tawny owl flutter past the window. At half past eight, Mr. Dursley picked up his briefcase, pecked Mrs. Dursley on the cheek and tried to kiss Dudley goodbye but missed, because Dudley was now having a tantrum and throwing cereal at the walls."**

_Sansa looked at Remus. "Is any real child that badly behaved?"_

_Remus said nothing._

_"Ok, is any real child except my brother that badly behaved?"_

_"Shh, let's read."_

"**Little tyke," chortled Mr. Dursley as he left the house. He got into his car and backed out of number four's drive. It was on the corner of the street that he noticed the first sign of something peculiar - a cat reading a map."**

_"What?"_

_"We'll find out in a minute." Remus said with a smile._

"**For a second, Mr. Dursley didn't realise what he had seen -then he jerked his head around to look again. There was a tabby cat standing on the corner of Privet Drive, but there wasn't a map in sight."**

_"What a surprise." Sansa muttered._

"**What could he have been thinking of? It must have been a trick of the light. Mr. Dursley blinked and stared at the cat. It stared back. As Mr. Dursley drove around the corner and up the road, he watched the cat in his mirror. It was now reading the sign that said Privet Drive - No, looking at the sign; cats couldn't read maps or signs. ****Mr. Dursley gave himself a little shake and put the cat out of his mind. As he drove towards town, he thought of nothing except a large order of drills he was hoping to get that day."**

_"Do you think the cat has something to do with our world?" Sansa asked, looking thoroughly confused._

_"Mmm."_

"**But on the edge of town, drills were driven out of his mind by something else. As he sat in the usual morning traffic jam, he couldn't help noticing that there seemed to be a lot of strangely dressed people about. People in cloaks. Mr. Dursley couldn't bear people who dressed in funny clothes - the get-ups you saw on young people!"**

_"But that's normal!" Sansa exclaimed._

_"Not for all muggles." Remus explained patiently._

_"But I've seen muggles in cloaks"_

_"Like I said not for all muggles Sans."_

"**He supposed this was some stupid new fashion. He drummed his fingers on the steering wheel and his eyes fell on a huddle of these weirdoes standing quite close by. They were whispering excitedly together. Mr. Dursley was enraged to see that a couple of them weren't young at all; why, that man had to be older than he was, and wearing an emerald green cloak! The nerve of him! But then it struck Mr. Dursley that this was probably some silly stunt - these people were obviously collecting for something ... yes, that would be it."**

_"Collecting?"_

_"Asking people to give them money for a charity or something."_

_"So like the fountain in the Ministry."_

_"Yep, just in a tin instead."_

"**The traffic moved on, and a few minutes later, Mr. Dursley arrived in the Grunnings car park, his mind back on drills.  
Mr. Dursley always sat with his back to the window in his office on the ninth floor. If he hadn't, he might have found it harder to concentrate on drills that morning."**

_"You can concentrate on drills?" Sansa asked seriously._

"**He didn't see the owls swooping past in broad daylight, though the people down in the street did; they pointed and gazed open-mouthed as owl after owl sped overhead. ****Most of them had never seen an owl even at night time."**

_"Why not, owls are all over the place." Sansa said._

_"Yeah, that is a bit strange" Remus answered._

"**Mr. Dursley, however, had a perfectly normal, owl-free morning. He yelled a five different people. He made several important telephone calls and shouted a bit more. He was in a very good mood until lunch-time, when he thought he'd stretch his legs and walk across the road to buy himself a bun from the baker's opposite. He'd forgotten all about the people in cloaks until he passed a group of them next to the baker's. He eyed them angrily as he passed. He didn't know why, but they made him uneasy. This lot were whispering excitedly, too, and he couldn't see a single collecting tin. It was on his way back past them, clutching a large doughnut in a bag, that he caught a few words of what they were saying.**

'**The Potters, that's right, that's what I heard'  
'yes, their son, Harry'"**

_"Do you think this has something to do with James?" Sansa asked her blue eyes wide._

_"I don't know." Remus said. "We'll find out soon anyway."_

"**Mr. Dursley stopped dead. Fear flooded him. He looked back at the whisperers as if he wanted to say something to them, but thought better of it."**

_"Probably for the best." Remus said, with a twisted smile_.

"**He dashed back across the road, hurried up to his office, snapped at his secretary not to disturb him, seized his telephone and had almost finished dialling his home number when he changed his mind. He put the receiver back down and stroked his moustache, thinking…****No, he was being stupid. Potter wasn't such an unusual name."**

_"There's only one family of Potter's I know." Sansa said._

_"Yeah, same…"_

"**He was sure there were lots of people called Potter who had a son called Harry. Come to think of it, he wasn't even sure his nephew was called Harry."**

_"How can somebody not even know their families names?" Sansa asked indignantly._

_"Well, they normally pretend that they don't exist so…"_

_"That's not right." Sansa said, she folded her arms and sat back in the beanbag._

"**He'd never even seen the boy. It might have been Harvey. Or Harold. There was no point in worrying Mrs. Dursley; she always got so upset at any mention of her sister. He didn't blame her - if he'd had a sister like that... but all the same, those people in cloaks...****He found it a lot harder to concentrate on drills that afternoon, and when he left the building at five o'clock, he was still so worried that he walked straight into someone just outside the door.**

**"Sorry," he grunted, as the tiny old man stumbled and almost fell. It was a few seconds before Mr. Dursley realised that the man was wearing a violet cloak. He didn't seem at all upset at being almost knocked to the ground. On the contrary, his face split into a wide smile and he said in a squeaky voice t****hat made passers-by stare: "Don't be sorry my dear sir, for nothing could upset me today! Rejoice, for You-Know-Who has gone at last! Even Muggles like your self should be celebrating this happy, happy day!"**

_"Does he mean Voldemort?" Sansa said her eyes wide again._

_"Must do, that's the only person I know who's called You-Know-Who." Remus replied, his face twisted with a small frown._

"**And the old man hugged Mr. Dursley around the middle and walked off.  
Mr. Dursley stood rooted to the spot. He had been hugged by a complete stranger. He also thought he had been called a Muggle, whatever that was."**

_Sansa and Remus shared a smile._

"**He was rattled. He hurried to his car and set off home, hoping he was imagining things, which he had never hoped before, because he didn't approve of imagination."**

_"How? Who is this man?" Sansa said with a look of mock horror._

"**As he pulled into the driveway at number four, the first thing he saw - and it didn't improve his mood - was the tabby cat he'd spotted that morning. It was now sitting on his garden wall. He was sure it was the same one; it had the same markings around its eyes."**

_"McGonagall has markings around her eyes, can you remember when she showed us Remus?"_

**"Shoo!" said Mr. Dursley loudly.**

**The cat didn't move. It just gave him a stern look."**

_"McGonagall." The two said together, they laughed._

"**Was this normal cat behaviour, Mr. Dursley wondered? Trying to pull himself together, he let himself into the house. He was still determined not to mention anything to his wife**. **Mrs. Dursley had had a nice, normal day. She told him over dinner all about Mrs. Next Door's problems with her daughter and how Dudley had learnt a new word (Shan't)."**

_"Lucky them." Sansa said sarcastically. "I remember when Bran learnt that word." She shuddered and Remus patted her back gently._

"**Mr. Dursley tried to act normally. When Dudley had been put to bed, he went into the living-room in time to catch the last report on the evening news:**

'**And finally, bird-watchers everywhere have reported that the nation's owls have been behaving very unusually today. Although owls normally hunt at night and are hardly ever seen in daylight, there have been hundreds of sightings of these birds flying in every direction since sunrise. Experts are unable to explain why the owls have suddenly changed their sleeping pattern.' The news reader allowed himself a grin. 'Most mysterious. And now, over to Jim McGuffin with the weather. Going to be any more showers of owls tonight, Jim?'**

'**Well, Ted,' said the weatherman, 'I don't know about that, but it's not only the owls that have been acting oddly today. Viewers as far apart as Kent, Yorkshire and Dundee have been phoning in to tell me that instead of the rain that I promised yesterday, they've had a downpour of shooting stars!'**

_Remus looked at the book strangely._

_"What?"_

_"Thank God Sirius and James aren't here, they might actually try to do something like that."_

_Sansa giggled. "Yeah, sounds like them." She got off the beanbag and led n the floor, propping herself up with her elbows._

_'Perhaps people have been celebrating Bonfire Night early. It's not until next week, folks! But I can promise a wet night tonight.'_

**Mr. Dursley sat frozen in his armchair. Shooting stars all over the place? And a whisper, a whisper about the Potters...Mrs. Dursley came into the living-room carrying two cups of tea. It was no good. He'd have to say something to her. He cleared his throat nervously. 'Er - Petunia, dear - you haven't heard from your sister lately, have you?'**

_"Petunia is Lily's sister's name." Sansa said excitedly._

_Remus looked at her._

"**As he expected, Mrs. Dursley looked shocked and angry. After all, they normally pretended she didn't have a sister.  
'No,' she said sharply. 'Why?'"**

_"Defiantly sounds like Lily's Petunia."_

**"'Funny stuff on the news," Mr. Dursley mumbled. 'Owls... shooting stars... and there were a lot of funny-looking people in town today...'  
'So?' snapped Mrs. Dursley.  
'Well, I just thought... maybe ... it was something to do with ... you know ... her lot.'**

_"Her lot? What's that supposed to mean."_

"**Mrs. Dursley sipped her tea through pursed lips. Mr. Dursley wondered whether he dared tell her he'd heard the name 'Potter'."**

_"Wait a minute! That means that Lily and James get married!" Sansa said._

_Remus looked confused. "How'd you work that one out?"_

_"Well, it said that Mrs Dursley was Mrs Potter's sister, and we're guessing Mr Potter is James, and Mrs Dursley is Lily's sister so…"_

_"Oh, I get it!"_

"**He decided he didn't dare. Instead he said, as casually as he could, 'their son - he'd be about Dudley's age now wouldn't he?'  
'I suppose so,' said Mrs. Dursley stiffly.  
'What's his name again? Howard isn't it?'  
'Harry. Nasty, common name, if you ask me.'"**

_"They have a son?"_

_Remus groaned. "Imagine James as a father…"_

"'**Oh, yes,' said Mr. Dursley, his heart sinking horribly. 'Yes, I quite agree.'  
He didn't say another word on the subject as they went upstairs to bed. While Mrs. Dursley was in the bathroom, Mr. Dursley crept to the bedroom window and peered down into the front garden. The cat was still there. It was staring down Privet Drive as though it was waiting for something.  
Was he imagining things?"**

_"But he doesn't approve" Sansa said lightly._

"**Could all this have anything to do with the Potters? If it did ... if it got out that they were related to a pair of - well, he didn't think he could bear it."**

_"Nasty man." Sansa said, venom in her voice._

_  
_**"The Dursley's got into bed. Mrs. Dursley fell asleep quickly but Mr. Dursley lay awake, turning it all over in his mind. His last, comforting thought before he fell asleep was that even if the Potters were involved, there was no reason for them to come near him and Mrs. Dursley. The Potters knew very well what he and Petunia thought about them and their kind ... He couldn't see how he and Petunia could get mixed up in anything that might be going on. He yawned and turned over. It couldn't affect them ...  
How very wrong he was.**

_"What? How?"_

_"Listen to the story; it's like trying to read to a child"_

**Mr. Dursley might have been drifting into an uneasy sleep, but the cat on the wall outside was showing no sign of sleepiness. It was sitting as still as a statue, its eyes fixed unblinkingly on the far corner of Privet Drive. It didn't so much as quiver when a car door slammed in the next street, or when the two owls swooped overhead. In fact, it was nearly midnight before the cat moved at all.** **A man appeared on the corner the cat had been watching, appeared so suddenly and silently you'd have thought he'd just popped out of the ground.**

_"Apparition?"_

"**The cat's tail twitched and its eyes narrowed. Nothing like this man had been seen in Privet Drive. He was tall, thin and very old, judging by the silver of his hair and beard, which were both long enough to tuck into his belt."**

_"Dumbledore" Remus said confidently._

"**He was wearing long robes, a purple cloak which swept the ground and high-heeled, buckled boots. His blue eyes were light, bright and sparkling behind half-moon spectacles and his nose was very long and crooked, as though it had been broken at least twice. This man's name was Albus Dumbledore."**

_Sansa smiled at Remus. "You were right!"_

"**Albus Dumbledore didn't seem to realise that he had just arrived in a street where everything from his name to his boots was unwelcome. He was busy rummaging in his cloak, looking for something. But he did seem to realise he was being watched, because he looked up suddenly at the cat, which was still staring at him from the other end of the street. For some reason, the sight of the cat seemed to amuse him. He chuckled and muttered, 'I should have known.' **

**He had found what he was looking for in his inside pocket. It seemed to be a silver cigarette lighter. He flicked it open, held it up in the air and clicked it. The nearest street lamp went out with a little pop."**

_"What's that?" Sansa looked at Remus blankly._

_"What's what?"_

_"A cigarette lighter? And what Dumbledore used."_

_"A cigarette lighter is what muggles use to make fire, and we'll find out."_

"**He clicked it again - the next lamp flickered into darkness. Twelve times he clicked the Put-Outer, until the only lights left in the whole street were two tiny pinpricks in the distance, which were the eyes of the cat watching him. ****If anyone looked out of their window now, even the beady-eyed Mrs. Dursley, they wouldn't be able to see anything that was happening down on the pavement. Dumbledore slipped the Put-Outer back inside his cloak and set off down the street towards number four, where he sat down on the wall next to the cat. He didn't look at it, but after a moment he spoke to it.  
'Fancy seeing you here, Professor McGonagall.'**

_Sansa smiled. "I was right!"_

**He turned to smile at the tabby, but it had gone. Instead he was smiling at a rather severe looking woman who was wearing square glasses exactly the shape of the markings the cat had had around its eyes. She, too, was wearing a cloak, an emerald one. Her black hair was drawn into a tight bun. She looked distinctly ruffled.**

'**How did you know it was me?' she asked.**

'**My dear Professor, I've never seen a cat sit so stiffly.'**

_Remus had to stop reading as he laughed at the sentence_

'**You'd be stiff too if you'd been sitting on a brick wall all day,' said Professor McGonagall.**

'**All day? When you could have been celebrating? I must have passed a dozen feasts and parties on my way here.'**

**Professor McGonagall sniffed angrily."**

_"Just like normal." Sansa muttered._

"'**Oh yes, everyone's celebrating all right,' she said impatiently. 'You'd think they'd be a bit more careful, but no - even the Muggles noticed something's going on. It was on their news.' She jerked her head back at the Dursley's' dark living-room window. 'I heard it. Flocks of owls ... shooting stars ... Well, they're not completely stupid. They were bound to notice something. Shooting stars down in Kent - I'll bet that was Dedalus Diggle. He never had much sense.'**

_"Dedalus Diggle. I've heard that name before." Sansa said, confused._

_"Yes, two years above us. In Hufflepuff. The one that almost died in the match against us."_

_"Where Sirius sent a bludger towards him?"_

_"That's the one."_

"'**You can't blame them,' said Dumbledore gently. 'We've had precious little to celebrate for eleven years.'"**

_"Voldemort was around for 11 years?" Sansa said in amazement._

_"Seems so." Remus said in disgust._

"'**I know that,' said Professor McGonagall irritably. 'But that's no reason to lose our heads. People are being downright careless, out on the streets in broad daylight, not even dressed in Muggle clothes swapping rumours.'**

**She threw a sharp, sideways glance at Dumbledore here, as though hoping he was going to tell her something, but he didn't, so she went on: 'A fine thing it would be if, on the very day You-Know-Who seems to have disappeared at last, the Muggles found out about us all. I suppose he really has gone, Dumbledore?'**

'**It certainly seems so,' said Dumbledore. 'We have much to be thankful for. Would you care for a sherbet lemon?'**

'**A what?'**

'**A sherbet lemon. They're a kind of Muggle sweet I'm rather fond of.'**

'**No, thank you,' said Professor McGonagall coldly, as though she didn't think this was the moment for sherbet lemons.**

'**As I say, even if You-Know-Who has gone'**

'**My dear Professor, surely a sensible person like your self can call him by his name? All this 'You-Know-Who' nonsense - for eleven years I have been trying to persuade people to call him by his proper name: Voldemort'"**

_"Defiantly is Dumbledore." Remus said. Sansa nodded._

"**Professor McGonagall flinched, but Dumbledore, who was un-sticking two sherbet lemons, seemed not to notice.**

'**It all gets so confusing if we keep saying 'You-Know-Who.' I have never seen any reason to be frightened of saying Voldemort's ****name.'"**

_"He hasn't changed much then." Sansa said, with a grin._

"'**I know you haven't,' said Professor McGonagall, sounding half-exasperated, half-admiring. 'But you're different. Everyone knows you're the one You-Know - oh, all right, Voldemort - ****was frightened of'**

'**You flatter me,' said Dumbledore calmly. 'Voldemort had powers I will never have.'**

'**Only because you're too - well - noble to use them.'"**

_"That's true." Remus said_.

"'**It's lucky it's dark. I haven't blushed so much since Madam Pomfrey told me she liked my new earmuffs.'"**

_They both had a fit of giggling. This was exactly what they could imagine their headmaster doing._

"**Professor McGonagall shot a sharp look at Dumbledore and said, 'The owls are nothing to the rumours that are flying around. You know what everyone's saying? About why he's disappeared? About what finally stopped him?'"**

_"What did?"_

_"Stop being a child Sansa. This is why I refuse to read things with Sirius or James."_

"**It seemed that Professor McGonagall had reached the point she was most anxious to discuss, the real reason she had been waiting on a cold hard wall all day, for neither as a cat nor as a woman had she fixed Dumbledore with such a piercing stare as she did now.**

_"That's McGonagall alright" Remus exclaimed._

_"Oh so its alright if you interrupt the story then." Sansa said with a grin. Remus threw a pillow at her._

"**It was plain that whatever 'everyone' was saying, she was not going to believe it until Dumbledore told her it was true. Dumbledore, however, was choosing another sherbet lemon and did not answer. **

'**What they're saying,' she pressed on, 'is that last night Voldemort turned up in Godric's Hollow. He went to find the Potters. The rumour is that Lily and James Potter"**

_"I told you!" Sansa said with a huge grin. "Wow, they finally get along."_

_Remus smiled. "It would appear so."_

"**Are - are - that they're - dead."**

_Sansa sat down with a thump. "Did you just say what I think you said?"_

_Remus sat in shock, staring at the book._

_"Remus. Lily and James? Tell me you read wrong."_

_Silence._

_"Remus?"_

_He blinked and with a shaky voice carried on reading._

"**Dumbledore bowed his head. Professor McGonagall gasped. 'Lily and James ... I can't believe it ... I didn't want to believe it ... Oh, Albus ...'**

**Dumbledore reached out and patted her on the shoulder. 'I know ... I know ...' he said heavily. Professor McGonagall's voice trembled as she went on. 'That's not all. They're saying he tried to kill the Potter's son, Harry…"**

_"What? Why?" Sansa said anxiously. "Isn't it bad enough."_

_Remus glanced over at his young friend. She had tears sliding down her cheeks, and had gone very pale. He had forgotten that Voldemort had killed both her parents already._

"**But - he couldn't. He couldn't kill that little boy. No one knows why, or how, but they're saying that when he couldn't kill Harry Potter, Voldemort's power somehow broke - and that's why he's gone.' ****Dumbledore nodded glumly. 'It's - it's true?' faltered Professor McGonagall. 'After all he's done ... all the people he's killed ... he couldn't kill a little boy? It's just astounding ...of all the things to stop him ... but how in the name of heaven did Harry survive?'**

'**We can only guess," said Dumbledore. 'We may never know.'****Professor McGonagall pulled out a lace handkerchief and dabbed at her eyes beneath her spectacles. Dumbledore gave a great sniff as he took out a watch from his pocket and examined it. It was a very odd watch. It had twelve hands but no numbers; instead, little planets were moving around the edge. It must have made sense to Dumbledore, though, because he put it back in his pocket and said, 'Hagrid's late. I suppose it was he who told you I'd be here, by the way?' **

'**Yes," said Professor McGonagall. 'And I don't suppose you're going to tell me why you're here, of all places?' **

'**I've come to bring Harry to his aunt and uncle.'"**

_"What?" Both the teenagers said together. They looked at each other in shock._

**"'They're the only family he has left now.'**

'**You don't mean - you can't mean the people who live here?' cried Professor McGonagall, jumping to her feet and pointing at number four. 'Dumbledore - you can't.'**

_"I agree. What happened to me?" Sansa asked, Remus nodded._

_"And me, Sirius and Peter. We would look after Harry."_

"'**I've been watching them all day. You couldn't find two people who are less like us. And they've got this son - I saw him kicking his mother all the way up the street, screaming for sweets.**

_"Pleasant child." Remus said sarcastically, trying to lighten the mood in the small room._

"**Harry Potter come and live here!' **

'**It's the best place for him,' said Dumbledore firmly. 'His aunt and uncle will be able to explain everything to him when he's older. I've written them a letter.'"**

_"A letter?" Sansa said, her mouth slightly open._

"'**A letter?' repeated Professor McGonagall faintly, sitting back down on the wall. 'Really Dumbledore, you think you can explain all this in a letter? These people will never understand him! ****He'll be famous - a legend - I wouldn't be surprised if today was known as Harry Potter Day in future - there will be books written about Harry - every child in our world will know his name!'"**

_"Wow that's quite an achievement" Remus said._

"'**Exactly,' said Dumbledore, looking very seriously over the top of his half-moon glasses. 'It would be enough to turn any boy's head. Famous before he can walk and talk! Famous for something he won't even remember! Can't you see how much better off he'll be, growing up away from all that until he's ready to take it?'"**

_"He has a point," said Remus mildly._

_"Yeah, but still. Petunia hates Lily. What if she does something to Harry?"_

**Professor McGonagall opened her mouth, changed her mind, swallowed and then said, 'Yes - yes, you're right, of course. But how is the boy getting here Dumbledore?'**

**She eyed his cloak suddenly as though she thought he might be hiding Harry underneath it.**

'**Hagrid's bringing him.'"**

_"What, the gamekeeper?" Sansa asked confused._

_"Guessing so."_

_"He's nice, why can't he live at Hogwarts with him?"_

"'**You think it - wise - to trust Hagrid with something as important as this?'**

'**I would trust Hagrid with my life,' said Dumbledore.**

'**I'm not saying his heart isn't in the right place,' said Professor McGonagall grudgingly, 'but you can't pretend he's not careless. He does tend to - what was that?' ****A low rumbling sound had broken the silence around them. It grew steadily louder as they looked up and down the street for some sign of a headlight; it swelled to a roar as they both looked up at the sky - and a huge motorbike fell out of the air and landed on the road in front of them."**

_"That's cool."_

_"It sounds like something that Sirius would do." Said Remus in disbelief. "He's always wanted a flying motorbike."_

"**If the motorbike was huge, it was nothing to the man sitting astride it. He was almost twice as tall as a normal man and at least five times as wide. He looked simply too big to be allowed, and so wild - long tangles of bushy black hair and beard hid most of his face, he had hands the size of dustbin lids and his feet in their leather boots were like baby dolphins. In his vast muscular arms he was holding a bundle of blankets."**

"_That's Hagrid alright!" Remus said, with a smile. "Thank god Sirius didn't get one."_

"'**Hagrid' said Dumbledore, sounding relieved. 'At last. And where did you get that motorbike?'**

'**Borrowed it, Professor Dumbledore, sir,' said the giant, climbing carefully off the motorbike as he spoke. 'Young Sirius Black lent it me.'"**

_Remus groaned and Sansa giggled at the expression on his face._

"'**I've got him, sir.'**

'**No problems, were there?'**

'**No, sir - house was almost destroyed but I got him out all right before the Muggles started swarmin' around. He fell asleep as we were flyin' over Bristol.'**

**Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall bent forward over the bundle of blankets. Inside, just visible, was a baby boy, fast asleep. Under a tuft of jet-black hair over his forehead they could see a curiously shaped cut, like a bolt of lightning.**

_"Cool shape for a scar." Sansa said wistfully. "All I have is this one." She put her leg up so that she could show Remus the scar. It was a perfect circle on her knee._

_"How?"_

_"My brother." She said with a shrug._

"'**Is that where - ?' whispered Professor McGonagall.**

'**Yes,' said Dumbledore. 'He'll have that scar for ever.'**

'**Couldn't you do something about it, Dumbledore?'**

_"Why would he want to?"_

"'**Even if I could, I wouldn't. Scars can come in useful. I have one myself above my left knee which is a perfect map of the London Underground. Well - give him here, Hagrid - we'd better get this over with.' ****Dumbledore took Harry in his arms and turned towards the Dursleys' house. **

'**Could I - could I say goodbye to him, sir?' asked Hagrid. He bent his great shaggy head over Harry and gave him what must have been a very scratchy, whiskery kiss.** **Then, suddenly, Hagrid let out a howl like a wounded dog."**

_"Aww, poor Hagrid. He really likes Lily and James, and he's lost them and their son in one night." Sansa said._

"'**Shhh!' hissed Professor McGonagall. 'You'll wake the Muggles!'**

'**S-s-sorry,' sobbed Hagrid, taking out a large spotted handkerchief and burying his face in it. 'But I c-c-can't stand it - Lily an' James dead - an' poor little Harry off ter live with Muggles.'**

'**Yes, yes, it's all very sad, but get a grip on yourself, Hagrid, or we'll be found,' Professor McGonagall whispered, patting Hagrid gingerly on the arm as Dumbledore stepped over the low garden wall and walked to the front door. He laid Harry gently on the doorstep, took a letter out of his cloak, tucked it inside Harry's blankets and then came back to the other two. For a full minute the three of them stood and looked at the little bundle; Hagrid's shoulders shook, Professor McGonagall blinked furiously and the twinkling light that usually shone from Dumbledore's eyes seemed to have gone out.**

'**Well,' said Dumbledore finally, 'that's that. We've no business staying here. We may as well go and join the celebrations.'**

'**Yeah,' said Hagrid in a very muffled voice. 'I'll be takin' Sirius his bike back. G'night, Professor McGonagall - Professor Dumbledore, sir.'"**

_"No you really don't have to." Remus said to the book_.

"**Wiping his streaming eyes on his jacket sleeve, Hagrid swung himself on to the motorbike and kicked the engine into life; with a roar it rose into the air and off into the night.**

'**I shall see you soon, I expect, Professor McGonagall,' said Dumbledore, nodding to her. Professor McGonagall blew her nose in reply. Dumbledore turned and walked back down the street. On the corner he stopped and took out the silver Put-Outer. He clicked it once and twelve balls of light sped back to their street lamps so that Privet Drive glowed suddenly orange and he could make out a tabby cat slinking around the corner at the other end of the street. ****He could just see the bundle of blankets on the step of number four.**

'**Good luck, Harry,' he murmured. He turned on his heel and with a swish of his cloak he was gone. ****A breeze ruffled the neat hedges of Privet Drive, which lay silent and tidy under the inky sky, the very last place you would expect astonishing things to happen. Harry Potter rolled over inside his blankets without waking up. One small hand closed on the letter beside him and he slept on, not knowing he was special, not knowing he was famous, not knowing he would be woken in a few hours' time by Mrs. Dursley's scream as she opened the front door to put out the milk bottles, nor that he would spend the next few weeks being prodded and pinched by his cousin Dudley ...He couldn't know that at this very moment, people meeting in secret all over the country were holding up their glasses and saying in hushed voices: 'To Harry Potter - the boy who lived!'"**

_"End of the chapter" Remus said._

_Sansa quickly wiped her eyes on her sleeve. Remus lowered himself so that he was on the floor. He gave her a hug._

_"How can Lily and James be dead?" Sansa said, her voice barely more then a whisper._

_Remus didn't know what to say._

_"We don't have to read on Sans. Not if you don't want to."_

_"No lets carry on. It's our little project ok? Don't tell anyone."_

_With that she took the book from him and started on the next chapter._


	2. Chapter 2

"**Chapter Two, The Vanishing Glass"**

"_Sansa, you sure you want to do this?" Remus asked, concern in his brown eyes. His friend Sansa looked over the book to him. _

"_Chapter two, the vanishing glass." She said again, clearly. Remus sighed and listened to her read._

"**Nearly ten years had passed since the Dursley's had woken up to find their nephew on the front step, but Privet Drive had hardly changed at all. The sun rose on the same tidy front gardens and lit up the brass number four on the Dursley's' front door; it crept into their living room, which was almost exactly the same as it had been on the night when Mr. Dursley had seen that fateful news report about the owls. Only the photographs on the mantelpiece really showed how much time had passed. Ten years ago, there had been lots of pictures of what looked like a large pink beach ball wearing different-coloured bobble hats - but Dudley Dursley was no longer a baby,"**

"_Nice description." Remus said with a smile. _

_Sansa nodded and carried on._

"**and now the photographs showed a large, blond boy riding his first bicycle, on a roundabout at the fair, playing a computer game with his father,** **being hugged and kissed by his mother. The room held no sign at all that another boy lived in the house, too."**

_Sansa looked up in shock. "Did I just read right?" She asked Remus. He took the book from her hands._

"_Yep." _

"_But Harry lives there." _

"_Lets just read on Sans."_

"**Yet Harry Potter was still there, asleep at the moment, but not for long. His Aunt Petunia was awake, and it was her shrill voice, which made the first noise of the day."**

"_Not much has changed then." Sansa said glumly._

"'**Up! Get up! Now!'"**

"_She's defiantly not changed." Sansa added, looking disgusted._

"**Harry woke with a start. His aunt rapped on the door again.  
'Up!' she screeched. Harry heard her walking towards the kitchen and then the sound of the frying pan being put on the cooker. He rolled on to his back and tried to remember the dream he had been having. It had been a good one. There had been a flying motorbike in it. He had a funny feeling he'd had the same dream before."**

"_Blooming flying motorbikes." Remus muttered darkly. Sansa gave a small laugh._

"**His aunt was back outside the door.  
'Are you up yet?' she demanded.  
'Nearly,' said Harry. 'Well, get a move on, I want you to look after the bacon. And don't you dare let it burn, I want everything perfect on Duddy's birthday.'**

"_Duddy?" _

_Remus snorted with laughter. _

"_Better then what James get calls at home." He said, with a smile._

"_What?" Sansa cocked her head curiously._

"_JimJam Wotzit." Remus said, still smiling. Sansa threw her head back and laughed. _

"_JimJam Wotzit?"_

"_Or just JimJam." _

"**Harry groaned.  
'What did you say?' his aunt snapped through the door.  
'Nothing, nothing ...'  
Dudley's birthday - how could he have forgotten? Harry got slowly out of bed and started looking for socks. He found a pair under his bed and, after pulling a spider off one of them, put them on. Harry was used to spiders, because the cupboard under the stairs was full of them, and that was where he slept.**

"_He sleeps in a cupboard?" _

**When he was dressed he went down the hall into the kitchen. The table was almost hidden beneath all Dudley's birthday presents. It looked as though Dudley had got the new computer he wanted, not to mention the second television and the racing bike.**

"_Brat." Sansa muttered. "Sounds just like Bran."_

**Exactly why Dudley wanted a racing bike was a mystery to Harry, as Dudley was very fat and hated exercise - unless of course it involved punching somebody. Dudley's favorite punch-bag was Harry, but he couldn't often catch him. Harry didn't look it, but he was very fast.**

"_Well, at least Harry can get out of the way." Remus said, trying to lighten the mood._

"_He shouldn't have to try" Sansa said. _

**Perhaps it had something to do with living in a dark cupboard, but Harry had always been small and skinny for his age.**

_Remus coughed, it was a sound that sounded suspiciously like the name 'James'_

**He looked even smaller and skinnier than he really was because all he had to wear were old clothes of Dudley's and Dudley was about four times bigger than he was.**

**Harry had a thin face, knobbly knees, black hair and bright-green eyes.**

"_Defiantly Lily's child." Sansa said with a smile. "Wait until she finds out that she's getting married to James!"_

"_She won't find out Sansa. She can't."_

"_But…"_

"_But nothing. Lily and James are never to know. Agree?"_

_Sansa looked at him sulkily. "Guess so."_

**He wore round glasses held together by a lot of Sellotape because of all the times Dudley had punched him on the nose.**

_Sansa glared at the book. "I hate Petunia, but I think I hate this Dudley more." She said savagely._

**The only thing Harry liked about his appearance was a very thin scar on his forehead, which was shaped like a bolt of lightning. He had had it as long as he could remember and the first question he could ever remember asking his aunt was how he had got it.  
"In the car crash when your parents died,"** **she had said. "And don't ask questions."**

"_Elle semble charmer" Remus said grimly. Sansa nodded._

**Don't ask questions - that was the first rule for a quiet life with the Dursleys.  
Uncle Vernon entered the kitchen as Harry was turning over the bacon.**

_Sansa and Remus shared a look._

**"Comb your hair!" he barked, by way of a morning greeting.**

**About once a week, Uncle Vernon looked over the top of his newspaper and shouted that Harry needed a haircut. Harry must have had more haircuts than the rest of the boys in his class put together, but it made no difference, his hair simply grew that way - all over the place.**

_Remus gave another cough._

**Harry was frying eggs by the time Dudley arrived in the kitchen with his mother. Dudley looked a lot like Uncle Vernon. He had a large, pink face, not muck neck, small, watery blue eyes and thick, blond hair that lay smoothly on his thick, fat head. Aunt Petunia often said that Dudley looked like a baby angel - Harry often said that Dudley looked like a pig in a wig.**

"_A pig in a wig?" Remus asked, his mouth curving upwards. "That's a description that James would give."_

_Sansa laughed, the warm sound filled the room._

**Harry put the plates of egg and bacon on the table, which was difficult as there wasn't much room. Dudley, meanwhile was counting his presents. His face fell.**

**"Thirty-six," he said, looking up at his mother and father. "That's two less than last year."**

**"Darling, you haven't counted Auntie Marge's present, see, it's here under this big one from Mummy and Daddy."**

"_Thirty-six, and he's still not happy?" Sansa asked, a look of shock on her face._

**"All right then, thirty-seven then," said Dudley, going red in the face.**

**Harry, who could see a huge Dudley tantrum coming on, began wolfing down his bacon as fast as possible in case Dudley turned the table over.**

**Aunt Petunia obviously scented danger too, because she said quickly, "And we'll buy you another **_**two**_** presents while we're out today. How's that popkin? **_**Two**_** more presents. Is that all right?"**

"_What a spoilt little brat." Remus said sadly. _

**Dudley thought for a moment. It looked like hard work.**

"_Typical Man." Sansa said, Remus threw a pillow at her. She laughed._

**Finally he said slowly, "So I'll have thirty ... thirty ..."**

"_What?" Remus said, in amazement. "He can't count?"_

**"Thirty nine, sweetums," said Aunt Petunia.**

**"Oh." Dudley sat down heavily and grabbed the nearest parcel. "All right then."**

**Uncle Vernon chuckled. "Little tyke wants his money's worth, just like his father. Atta boy, Dudley!" He ruffled Dudley's hair**.

**At that moment the telephone rang**

"_Oooo!" Sansa said excitedly, "Lily told me all about them the other week!"_

**And Aunt Petunia went to answer it while Harry and Uncle Vernon watched Dudley unwrap the racing bike, a cine-camera, a remote control airplane, sixteen new computer games and a video recorder. He was ripping the paper off a gold wristwatch when Aunt Petunia came back from the telephone, looking both angry and worried.**

**"Bad news, Vernon," she said. "Mrs. Figg's broken her leg. She can't take him." She jerked her head in Harry's direction.**

"_Him?" Remus asked, his eyebrow raised._

**Dudley's mouth fell open in horror but Harry's heart gave a leap. Every year on Dudley's birthday his parents took him and a friend to, adventure parks, hamburger bars or the cinema. Every year, Harry was left behind with Mrs. Figg, a mad old lady who lived two streets away.**

"_Remus started, "Hold on, does she mean Arabella Figg?"_

"_What the Squib?"_

**Harry hated it there. The whole house smelled of cabbage and Mrs. Figg made him look at all the cats she'd ever owned.**

_Remus and Sansa shared a look. "Do all squib's have cats?" Remus asked._

**"Now what?" said Aunt Petunia, looking furiously at Harry as though he'd planned this.**

**Harry knew he ought to feel sorry that Mrs. Figg had broken her leg, but it wasn't easy when he reminded himself it would be a whole year before he had to look at Tibbles, Snowy, Mr Paws and Tufty again.**

**"We could phone Marge," Uncle Vernon suggested.**

**"Don't be silly Vernon, she hates the boy."**

**The Dursleys often spoke about Harry like this, as though he wasn't there - or rather, as though he was something very nasty that couldn't understand them, like a slug.**

"_Petunia talks about Lily like that anyway." Sansa said sadly._

**"What about what's-her-name, your friend - Yvonne?"**

"_But Yvonne is Lily's friend!" Sansa said, shock on her face. "I met her last summer. Yvonne hates Petunia."_

_Remus shrugged._

**"On holiday in Majorca," snapped Aunt Petunia.**

**"You could just leave me here," Harry put in hopefully (he'd be able to watch what he wanted on television for a change and maybe even have a go on Dudley's computer.)**

**Aunt Petunia looked as though she'd just swallowed a lemon.**

"_From what Lily and you've said, she often looks like that." Remus said gloomily. Sansa flashed a grin in his direction._

**"And come back and find the house in ruins?" she snarled.**

**"I won't blow up the house," said Harry, but they weren't listening.**

**"I suppose we could take him to the zoo," said Aunt Petunia slowly, "... and leave him in the car ..."**

**"That car's new, he's not sitting in it alone ..."**

**Dudley began to cry loudly.** **In fact he wasn't really crying, it had been years since he'd really cried, but he knew that if he screwed up his face and wailed, his mother would give him anything he wanted.**

_"Brat!" they both said at once._

**"Dinky Duddydums,**

_Sansa had to stop reading as she giggled._

**Don't cry, Mummy won't let him spoil your special day!" she cried, flinging her arms around him.** **"I ... don't ... want ... him ... t-t-to come!" Dudley yelled between huge pretend sobs. "He always sp-spoils everything!" He shot Harry a nasty grin through the gap in his mother's arms.**

"_How can one child be so…so…vindictive?" Sansa asked. "Harry hasn't even done anything to him."_

**Just then, the doorbell rang - "Oh, Good Lord, they're here!" said Aunt Petunia frantically - and a moment later, Dudley's best friend Piers Polkiss, walked in with his mother.**

**Piers was a scrawny boy with a face like a rat.**

"_Peter…Piers." Remus muttered, Sansa raised her eyebrow._

**He was usually the one who held people's arms behind their backs while Dudley hit them.**

_"What a nice kid," said Remus sarcastically._

**Dudley stopped pretending to cry at once. Half an hour later, Harry, who couldn't believe his luck, was sitting in the back of the Dursleys' car with Piers and Dudley, on the way to the zoo for the first time in his life.**

_Remus smiled. "At least he'll have a nice day. What can go wrong in a zoo?"_

_Sansa grinned evilly._

**His aunt and uncle hadn't been able to think of anything else to do with him, but before they'd left, Uncle Vernon had taken Harry aside.**

**"I'm warning you," he had said, putting his large purple face right up close to Harry's,**

"_Nice." Said Remus, his voice dripping with sarcasm._

**"I'm warning you now, boy -**

"_Harry" Sansa interjected angrily._

**-any funny business, anything at all - and you'll be in that cupboard from now until Christmas."**

**"I'm not going to do anything," said Harry, "honestly ..."**

"_Why doe's that remind me of James?" Remus said with a smile._

_Sansa grinned. "Because Harry sounds like James!"_

**But Uncle Vernon didn't believe him. No ever did.  
The problem was, strange things often happened around Harry and it was just no good telling the Dursleys he didn't make them happen.**

**Once, Aunt Petunia, tired of Harry coming back from the barber's looking as though he hadn't been at all, had taken a pair of scissors and cut his hair so short he was almost bald except for his fringe, which she left 'to hide that horrible scar'.**

_Sansa stopped reading and laughed. _

**Dudley laughed himself silly at Harry, who spent a sleepless night imagining school the next day, where he was already laughed at for his baggy clothes and his Sellotaped glasses. Next morning, however, he had got up to find his hair exactly as it had been before Aunt Petunia had sheared it off.**

"_Hey, we did that to James once, when he was sleeping, it grew during the night and he didn't notice in the morning!" Remus said suddenly._

**He had been given a week in his cupboard for this,** **even though he had tried to explain that he couldn't explain how it had grown back so quickly.**

"_That's really unfair!" Sansa said. "Being punished like that for something he can't control."_

**Another time, Aunt Petunia had been trying to force him into a revolting old jumper of Dudley's (brown with orange bobbles). The harder she tried to pull it over his head, the smaller it seemed to become, until finally it might have fitted a glove puppet, but certainly wouldn't fit Harry.**

"_Hehe!" Said Sansa._

**Aunt Petunia had decided it must have shrunk in the wash and, to his great relief, Harry wasn't punished.**

"_Good"_

**On the other hand, he'd got into terrible trouble for being found on the roof of the school kitchens.**

"_The Roof?" Remus asked in amazement. "Only James's son could end up on a roof!"_

**Dudley's gang had been chasing him as usual when, as much to Harry's surprise as anyone else's, there he **_**was **_**sitting on the chimney**__

"_Now that's cool…" Sansa said, grinning widely._

**The Dursley's had received a very angry letter from Harry's headmistress telling them Harry had been climbing school buildings. But all he tried to do (as he shouted at Uncle Vernon through the locked door of his cupboard) was jump behind the big bins outside the kitchen doors. Harry supposed that the wind must have caught him in mid-jump.**

**But today, nothing was going to go wrong. It was even worth being with Dudley and Piers to be spending the day somewhere that wasn't school, his cupboard or Mrs. Figg's cabbage-smelling living-room.**

**While he drove, Uncle Vernon complained to Aunt Petunia. He liked to complain about things: people at work, Harry, the council, Harry, the bank and Harry were just a few of his favorite subjects. **

"_Vernon really doesn't like Harry does he?" Remus mussed up the back of his hair._

**This morning, it was motorbikes. "... roaring along like maniacs, the young hoodlums," he said, as a motorbike overtook them.**

**"I had a dream about a motorbike," said Harry, remembering suddenly. "It was flying."**

**Uncle Vernon nearly crashed into the car in front. He turned right around in his seat and yelled at Harry, his face like a gigantic beetroot with a moustache, "MOTORBIKES DON'T FLY!"**

"_Vernon should get a life!" Sansa said savagely._

**Dudley and Piers snickered.**

**"I know they don't," said Harry. **"**It was only a dream."**

**But he wished he hadn't said anything. If there was one thing the Dursleys hated more than his asking questions, it was his talking about anything acting in a way it shouldn't, no matter if it was in a dream or even in a cartoon - they seemed to think he might get dangerous ideas.**

_Remus and Sansa shared a look._

**It was a very sunny Saturday and the zoo was crowded with people. The Dursleys bought Dudley and Piers large chocolate ice-creams at the entrance and then, because the smiling lady in the van had asked Harry what he wanted before they could hurry him away, they bought him a cheap lemon ice lolly.**

"_The cheap ones are sometimes the best!" Sansa said with a smile. Remus laughed_

"_All ice cream is the best to you!"_

**It wasn't bad either, Harry thought, licking it as they watched a gorilla scratching its head and looking remarkably like Dudley, except that it wasn't blond.**

_Sansa had to put the book down as she burst into laughter, even Remus giggled. _

"_That's…a…good…description…" Sansa spluttered, trying to control her laughter._

**Harry had the best morning he'd had in a long time. He was careful to walk a little way apart from the Dursleys**

"_More sense then James." Remus muttered darkly._

**so that Dudley and Piers, who were starting to get bored with the animals by lunchtime, wouldn't fall back on their favorite hobby of hitting him.**

**They ate in the zoo restaurant and when Dudley had a tantrum because his knickerbockers glory wasn't big enough, Uncle Vernon bought him another one and Harry was allowed to finish the first.**

"_Lucky Harry!"_

**Harry felt, afterwards, that he should have known it was all too good to last.**

_Remus hid his face in his hands. "Why do I feel that James's personality is going to shine through?"_

**After lunch they went to the reptile house. It was cool and dark in here, with lit windows all along the walls. Behind the glass, all sorts of lizards and snakes were crawling and slithering over bits of wood and stone.** **Dudley and Piers wanted to see huge, poisonous cobras and thick, man-crushing pythons. Dudley quickly found the largest snake in the place.** **It could have wrapped its body twice around Uncle Vernon's car, and crushed it into a dustbin -**

"_Cool!" Sansa said, wit an evil grin._

**But at the moment it didn't look in the mood.**

_Sansa coughed disguising the word "Men"_

_Remus threw a cushion at her._

**In fact, it was fast asleep.**

**Dudley stood with his nose pressed against the glass, staring at the glistening brown coils**.

**"Make it move," he whined at his father. Uncle Vernon tapped on the glass, but the snake didn't budge.**

**"Do it again," Dudley ordered**

**Uncle Vernon rapped the glass smartly with his knuckles, but the snake just snoozed on.**

**"This is boring," Dudley moaned. He shuffled away.**

"_So are you." Sansa put in._

**Harry moved in front of the tank and looked intently at the snake. He wouldn't have been surprised if it had died of boredom itself - no company except people drumming their fingers on the glass trying to disturb it all day long. It was worse than having a cupboard for a bedroom, where the only visitor was Aunt Petunia hammering on the door to wake you up - at least he got to visit the rest of the house.**

**The snake suddenly opened its beady eyes. Slowly, very slowly, it raised its head until its eyes were level with Harry's.  
It winked.**

_Sansa glanced at Remus in puzzlement._

"_Can snakes actually wink?" She asked._

"_I don't know." Remus answered in a confused manner._

**Harry stared. Then he looked quickly around to see if anyone was watching. They weren't. He looked back at the snake and winked, too.**

**The snake jerked its head towards Uncle Vernon and Dudley, then raised its eyes to the ceiling. It gave Harry a look that said quite plainly: "I get that all the time."**

"_This isn't good…"_

**"I know," Harry murmured through the glass, though he wasn't sure the snake could hear him. "It must be really annoying."**

**The snake nodded vigorously.  
"Where do you come from, anyway?" Harry asked.**

**The snake jabbed its tail at a little sign next to the glass. Harry peered at it.  
Boa Constrictor, Brazil.  
"Was it nice there?"**

**The boa constrictor jabbed its tail at the sign again and Harry read on: This specimen was bred in the zoo. "Oh, I see - so you've never been to Brazil?"**

"_Harry's a Parselmouth!" Sansa said excitedly. _

"_That's bad isn't it?"_

"_Not all the time. Some parselmouths are actually alright…"_

**As the snake shook its head, a deafening shout behind Harry made both of them jump. " DUDLEY! MR DURSLEY! COME AND LOOK AT THIS SNAKE! YOU WON'T BELIEVE WHAT IT'S DOING!"**

**Dudley came waddling towards them as fast as he could. "Out of the way, you," he said, punching Harry in the ribs.**

**Caught by surprise, Harry fell hard on the concrete floor. What came next happened so fast no one saw how it happened - one second, Piers and Dudley were leaning right up close to the glass, the next, they had leapt back with howls of horror.**

_Remus looked confused._

**Harry sat up and gasped; the glass front of the boa constrictor's tank had vanished.**

"WOW!" said Remus, "Not even Sirius and James put together could manage that!"

"How would you know?" Sansa asked suspiously.

"We tried in second year." Remus mumbled, going a lovely pink colour.

**The great snake was uncoiling itself rapidly, slithering out on to the floor - people throughout the reptile house screamed and started running for the exits, as the snake slid swiftly past him, Harry could have sworn a low, hissing voice said, " Brazil, here I come ... Thanksss, amigo."**

"_Definitely a parselmouth." Sansa said. _

"_Like I said isn't that bad?"_

"_Just as bad as a werewolf." _

"_Oh"_

**The keeper of the reptile house was in shock.**

**"But the glass," he kept saying, "where did the glass go?"**

**The zoo director himself made Aunt Petunia a cup of strong sweet tea while he apologized over and over again. Piers and Dudley could only gibber. As far as Harry had seen, the snake hadn't done anything except snap playfully at their heels as it passed, but by the time they were all back in uncle Vernon's car, Dudley was telling them how it had nearly bitten off his leg,**

_Sansa giggled._

**while Piers was swearing it had tried to squeeze him to death.**

**But, worst of all, for Harry at least, was Piers calming down enough to say, "Harry was talking to it, weren't you, Harry?"**

_Remus groaned. "Oh no."_

**Uncle Vernon waited until Piers was safely out of the house before starting on Harry. He was so angry he could hardly speak. He managed to say, "Go - cupboard - stay - no meals,"** **before he collapsed into a chair and Aunt Petunia had to run and get him a large brandy.**

"_That's really mean!"_

**Harry lay in his dark cupboard much later, wishing he had a watch. He didn't know what time it was and he couldn't be sure the Dursleys were asleep yet. Until they were, he couldn't risk sneaking in to the kitchen for some food. He'd lived with the Dursleys almost ten years, ten miserable years, as long as he could remember, ever since he'd been a baby and his parents had died.**

**Sometimes, when he strained his memory during long hours in his cupboard, he came up with a strange vision: a blinding flash of green light and a burning pain on his forehead.**

_"Avada Kedavra," said Remus breathlessly.  
"How did he survive?"_

**This, he supposed, was the crash, though he couldn't imagine where the green light came from.**

**He couldn't remember his parents at all.**

_Sansa moved in her seat uncomfortably. _

**His aunt and uncle never spoke about them, and of course he was forbidden to ask questions. There were no photographs of them in the house.**

**When he had been younger, Harry had dreamed and dreamed of some unknown relation coming to take him away, but it had never happened; the Dursleys were his only family.**

"_That must really suck"_

**Yet sometimes he thought (or maybe hoped) that strangers in the street seemed to know him. Very strange strangers they were, too.**

"_Our people." Remus commented. "We would all know who Harry was if he truly survived, and killed Voldemort."_

**A tiny man in a violet top hat had bowed to him once while out shopping with Aunt Petunia and Dudley. After asking Harry furiously if he knew the man, Aunt Petunia had rushed them out of the shop without buying anything. A wild-looking woman dressed in all green has waved merrily at him once on a bus. A bald man in a very long purple cloak had actually shaken his hand in the street the other day then walked away without another word. The weirdest thing about all these people was the way they seemed to vanish the second Harry tried to get a closer look.**

**At school, Harry had no one. Everybody knew that Dudley's gang hated that odd Harry Potter in his baggy old clothes and broken glasses, and nobody liked to disagree with Dudley's gang.**

"_Next Chapter?" Sansa asked, after glancing outside._

"_After lunch." Remus answered. "And if anybody asks, we were studing ok?"_

_Sansa nodded._


End file.
